Interesting Historic Facts... Believe it or Not...

Taken from an email...yeah... reliable source of course. 
Thanks to Roseanne Dowell and her source...Tom Pavlescak

Where did term “piss poor” come from ?

Us older people need to learn something new every day..

Just to keep the grey matter tuned up.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?
Interesting History.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot

And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery...

if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...

They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature

Isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,

And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,

Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.

Last of all the babies.

By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals
(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.

When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings

Could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.

That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery

In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door,

It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.

Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables

And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers

In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.

Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the rhyme:

“Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old”.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests

And would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter.

Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death.

This happened most often with tomatoes,

so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,

and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around
and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; “of holding a wake”.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people
alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be,
“saved by the bell” or was "considered a dead ringer”.

And that's the truth.

Now, whoever said History was boring!!!
So get out there and educate someone! ~~~

Share these facts with a friend.
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,

'What the heck happened?'

We'll be friends until we are old and senile.

Then we'll be new friends.
“Smile”,

it gives your face something to do!

Connection of the Minds... Roseanne Dowell, Connecting the dots...

It is great to have you here today Roseanne, Congratulations on the releaseof your new novel, Connection of the Minds.

Welcome  to my blog. Thanks for being here today.

Thanks for having me.

Other than ‘author’ what are three words you would use to describe yourself?

Wife, mother, grandmother (great grandmother – I know, that’s 4)
Roseanne, I know being a grandmother is a wonderful experience, today is my granddaughter's birthday, so a double reason to celebrate. A great grandmother... that is awesome. We will allow four, in this case. :)

Do they influence you as a writer? Or the genre you write?

Not really. At least I don’t think so.

What is it about your chosen genre/s that fires up your muse?

 I love and have always loved reading romance, romance/mystery, and mystery books so it’s only natural I’d want to write them.

Your book Connection of the Minds has just been released, what inspired this story?

Wow, great question. Other than a small town we visited several times, I honestly don’t know. The characters and story just suddenly came alive and of course I always listen to them.

Do you have a regime when writing? A special place, time, mood or do you snatch opportunities to pen ideas or write a few lines?

Ha, the only regime I have is when my characters come up with dialogue or something they want to do. It might be early In the morning, late afternoon, or evening. Most often it’s the middle of the night.

Does your Muse follow rules and plot lines or does she offer ideas on a whim?

 I don’t plot my stories. I learned the hard way that doesn’t work for me. When I start a story, I know the beginning and the end, what happens in the middle is as much a surprise to me as it is to the readers.

That's how my Muse works too Roseanne, I don't have much luck plotting before I begin to write.

What are the most dramatic changes you have made to a story you have written? What prompted the change?

 Other than editing, I honestly can’t say I make drastic or dramatic changes. I’ve been known to eliminate the first several paragraphs or even several pages and save them for later. The reason being they were back story and I wanted the story to start with action.

Has there been one event in your life that changed/inspired your writing career? For example, meeting an author, finding a publisher, joining a critique group?

Yes, years ago I took a correspondence writing course. They had a chat room and forums. The instructor doing the forums gave great examples and from her I learned to show, rather than tell my story. I learned more from her than I did the course itself.

Would you like to tell us about the main character of your book and/or the villain? Or would you like to share an excerpt? Either or both… we are keen to learn more about the story.

You don’t have to ask twice. LOL I love talking about my book.  I think I’ll let the main character tell you about it.

Did you ever have a feeling something bad was about to happen? Kind of a premonition, intuition, omen or whatever you want to call it? I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve experienced ESP. I mean we all have, haven’t we? Especially with a spouse or sibling. I bet sometimes you even finish each other’s sentences. Nothing unusual in that, is there? Not at all.

But I experienced something even stranger. Oh, I’m Rebecca Brennan. Can’t expect you to read my mind, can I?  I have this rare connection with someone’s mind. I feel what he feels, hear what he hears and even know what he’s thinking. Not all the time, just sometimes. Thank God for that. I’d hate to know what he’s thinking all the time.  I even feel his pain.  Trust me, that’s not good. In fact, none of its good. I mean seriously, how would you like to wake up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain and there’s absolutely nothing physically wrong with you? Trust me, you wouldn’t.

That’s exactly what happened to me in Connection of the Minds. I have these strange visions about someone else’s life. Some might think it’s a unique gift. Believe me, it’s not.

Excerpt:

“No!” Rebecca sprang up in bed. Hot searing pain bore into her shoulder. What was happening to her? A warm sticky substance flowed from her shoulder. Oh God, there was going to be blood. From the feel of it, lots of blood.  Half afraid to look, her hand trembled as she slowly brought it in front of her face and looked at it.  Dry, no blood.  What was going on? These kinds of things happened way too often lately. Okay, they were dreams but still. They were so damn real.

Rebecca eased off the bed. Her feet felt like lead weights as she walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. After a big gulp, she hurried back to bed. Shivers racked her body even with the blanket pulled up to her chin. A minute ago sweat soaked her skin. Now she couldn’t get warm. Someone’s life had invaded her mind. She didn’t know who or where they lived. And she sure as heck didn’t like it. These were more than dreams. Most of her visions happened while she slept, but they were real. Besides, too many occurred during the day.

The pain eased, but fear and danger lingered. Curling up, she pulled the blanket tighter, closed her eyes, and willed herself to sleep. Strange visions played in her mind. Red, white, and blue flashing lights, fire engines, and ambulances, and police rushed around calling instructions, trying to control panic and hysteria at the scene.

Rebecca rubbed her eyes, trying to erase the visions.

“If only I knew how to find this person. Maybe then I’d find out what these dreams and visions mean.” Her voice startled her in the quiet room. Snuggling deeper in bed, pushing the thoughts away, she tried to sleep.

But sleep wouldn’t come. Her mind wouldn’t be still. The visions persisted.  Was she going crazy? Maybe Allison was right to force her to see a parapsychologist.

 "I think you’re experiencing a psychic phenomenon." Allison had suggested. "Like ESP or something."

Great extract Roseanne, sounds intriguing.

Who is publishing your story? MuseItUp Publishing

Where can we get this book? http://bit.ly/ConnectionoftheMinds

How can we follow your career?

You can find out more about me at www.roseannedowell.com or my blog at http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com

Thanks for participating.It has been great to get a sneak peek into Connection of the Minds. Good luck with your book release.

Thanks again for having me. I enjoyed it.